I might be going to Amsterdam and thereabouts for 10 days or so. Suggestions?

My sister and her husband were there in the fall. The Rijksmuseum, Rembrandt’s home and the Anne Frank house were at the top of their list.

You should have very little language difficulty in the Netherlands. Most everyone speaks passable to very good English. So don’t worry about that. The people are generally friendly and willing to help, so feel free to ask for that if you need it.

As for what to do … you may not want to tour Amsterdam’s red-light district with a 14-year-old, or maybe just do that in the daytime, when it’s somewhat more conservative in appearance. I highly recommend a canal tour of Amsterdam – in a covered boat, but you’ll still want to dress warmly! – the narrators of the tour will do it in English (plus whatever languages are required and the narrator can speak) and are quite amusing and entertaining.

When in Belgium, eat lots of chocolate (on or off of waffles). Don’t go see Mannekin Pis, whatever you do. I’m convinced that this ridiculous statue is just a practical joke that Belgians play on tourists.

@dappled_leaves I’ve seen pictures of the pee statue. Not really my thing anyway. :-)

Definitely do this tour!

It’s free – you only pay if you are so inclined, an amount you consider fair. The tour guides are extremely good at their job, they manage to present the city in a string of funny, dramatic and interesting stories. Teens I’ve been traveling with were happy, too. I’ve been on about seven of their tours, and none of them were disappointing.

Be careful to find the guys in red, with “Sandeman” written somewhere. There’s lots of copy-cats around.

Go to www.travelchannel.com and watch the Amsterdam episode of Anthony Bourdain’s show, The Layover in which he spends about 36 hours hitting some of the highlights.

His offbeat take on things usually gives some interesting tidbits and places for fantastic food.

If you like Indonesian food, pickled herring or a plethora of different types of pancakes, he’ll hook you up with the best ones in the city (like the Upstairs Pancake house which inspired the line in a Beastie Boys song “When I’m in Holland, I eat the pannekoeken”) Apparently it’s got a delicious selection but is a bit hard to find. He will steer you straight.

You can always count on Bourdain for a great writing style and an offbeat way of looking at things. He really does his research.

My sister says that the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is also a must-see.

It has the largest Van Gogh collection in the world… 200 paintings, 400 drawings, and 700 letters by Vincent van Gogh.

Wrap up warm. It’s a cold time of the year.

You could hire bikes to get around. It’s so bike friendly

If you drink alcohol or smoke something…. don’t do it in the Red Light District, unless you are just there during the middle of the day to see the cool 1600s architecture. Yes there are a few places appropriate for your 14 year old and you to go there in the Red Light…. but there is a predominance of sex shops, casino rackets, and bars in that area. Although there are schoolchildren as well, walking right past all that stuff on their way home from school. Stay far away from that area at night. It is worth a quick peek during the day though to see the weird curio shops and awesomely old buildings, all still in use.

Definitely check out the Rijksmuseum as well as the Ann Frank House.

The cheapest food is at McDonald’s or at Pizza by the Slice. Don’t even bother trying out the automated fast food places there…. where everything is coin or cell phone operated. I guarantee you’ll hate that food.

When using public restrooms including the ones in places like McDonald’s, you gotta tip the lady sitting in the chair nearby. Give her 50 cents each time.

Using your credit card is way cheaper than paying to convert your currency. So bring some Traveler’s checks to start, and your credit card. The ATM machines are in Dutch, but surprisingly easy to figure out.

This is important: Carry your money/traveler checks and credit card in your shoes or somewhere hidden on you, with a fake wallet in your pocket containing only a few Euros. Like many big cities, Amsterdam does have a thief problem. And some of them are gangs from Rotterdam with quotas on the youngsters who are robbing you.

This is also important: Never look confused in public. If you have to consult a map, then go to a park bench and sit down and hide it behind a newspaper so you can appear as if you’re a local reading the newspaper. The predators there look for confused tourists and people staring at maps. And yes, you will need a map. Because even with a map, you can get easily lost due to the crazy windy streets, sidewalks and alleys.

A very fun area is Leidseplein, which is the central square of the city. It does have lots of areas that function as central squares, all over the place, though. Lots of cafes, coffeeshops (I don’t think the 14 year old is allowed in most coffeeshops, but I never really looked into it) art museums, beautiful canals, and more.

I’m serious about hiding your money and not acting like a tourist, though. There are winding alleys everywhere. The M.O. of the gangs is to flash a knife at you while insisting you go further into the alley.

You’ll wanna take more pics than you have memory for. You might wanna buy a cheap memory card ahead of time.

It’s one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

@Kraigmo Thanks very much! We will obviously be tourists, and we’re used to traveling. We traveled through Paris crowds on Bastille Day—I know how to protect my stuff. I can’t protect against muggers, but we have travel wallets.